Flea Problems in Ilford IG1

Fleas are usually visible to a regular human; you’ll often observe them when they jump to or from a host. Should you own a house pet, or maybe you have recently moved into a house in Ilford that has had pets, then you are at risk from flea infestation.

There are 2 main types of fleas that cause problems to homeowners and tenants, and these are the Dog Flea (known as Ctenocephalides canis –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_flea) & the Cat flea (known as Ctenocephalides felis – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_flea).

Both flea species are between 1-3mm in length, the cat flea is more of a reddish brown in appearance, whilst the dog flea is a slightly darker reddish black in colour with long tapering legs, allowing them to jump significant distances and as high as 16cm.

From feeding on just a single blood meal, a female flea is able to lay over one hundred eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your dog or cat.  The eggs are very small (0.5mm in length) and whitish in colour, once the larva hatch small maggots will emerge, these then fall off your pet into their bedding or carpets. The larvae build a nest where they mature and, up to 2 weeks after, the adult fleas will emerge.

Flea droppings are best described as resembling ground black pepper, and a careful search of the property may indicate the presence of fleas.